Duties
VA Careers - Social Work: https://youtube.com/embed/enRhz_ua_UU
VA Careers - Licensed Clinical Social Worker: https://youtube.com/embed/U_xC25QsN0w
Total-Rewards-of-an-Allied-Health-VA-Career-Brochure.pdf
Social Work: vacareers.va.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/Total-Rewards-of-a-Social-Worker-Career-Flyer.pdf
The Senior Social Worker:
- provides clinical support, assists in program development, provides shared case load support, and manages a case load of Veterans receiving housing provided through HUD Section 8 voucher system throughout the WTVAHCS catchment area.
- performs site visits of HUD-VASH apartments to ensure that Veterans reside in safe environments in compliance with local housing codes. The incumbent is responsible for reviewing agreements between Section 8, landlords, Public Housing Authorities and the VA in establishing appropriate referral sites for HUD-VASH placements. The incumbent meets quarterly with Public Housing Authorities for reconciliation of active HUD/VASH participants.
- provides crisis intervention services, seeking to address the cause as well as the presenting complaint, coordinates family conferences and serves as liaison to family members.
- maintains knowledge of Suicide Prevention policy and procedure, recognizes warning signs for suicide ideation or recent self-directed violence, and utilizes the identified screening tools to assess suicide risk.
- meets the needs of customers while supporting the WTVAHCS mission. Incumbent can provide the customer with consistent information according to established policies and procedures.
- handles conflict and problems in dealing with the customer constructively and appropriately.
- Has working knowledge and skill in the use of business productivity software, data management, and computer systems/programs, especially those programs in use by VHA.
- is responsible for oversight of performance improvement measures directly effecting the HUD/VASH program, voucher utilization and outreach measures.
- actively participates in program planning and development, advising the HCHV Program Manager of shifting trends with caseloads and identifying the need for and making recommendations on program procedure or policy changes based upon work experiences.
- uses business productivity software to execute several office automation functions such as storing and retrieving electronic documents and files; inserting and deleting text, formatting letters, reports, and memoranda; and transmitting/receiving email. Uses the Veterans Health Information and Technology Architecture (VISTA) to access information in the Medical Center Computer System.
- Is responsible for key project activities related to the planning, development, and implementation related to program development.
Duties are continued in the Education Section of this announcement.
Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8 AM - 4:30 PM
Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized
EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive. Contact VISN17EDRP2@va.gov, the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance.
Learn more
Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases. When setting pay, a higher step rate of the appropriate grade may be determined after consideration of higher or unique qualifications or special needs of the VA (Above Minimum Rate of the Grade).
Paid Time Off: 37-50 days of annual paid time offer per year (13-26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year)
Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior [work experience] or military service experience.
Parental Leave: After 12 months of employment, up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child.
Child Care Subsidy: After 60 days of employment, full time employees with a total family income below $144,000 may be eligible for a childcare subsidy up to 25% of total eligible childcare costs for eligible children up to the monthly maximum of $416.66
.
Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA
Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement)
Telework: Yes-This is an onsite position. Telework may be offered when deemed necessary by the department AD-HOC (Employees who telework on an occasional, episodic, or short-term basis, and have completed required telework training and telework agreement.) (Portion of day acceptable)
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 53451F
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
Requirements
Conditions of Employment
- You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job.
- Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
- Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
- You may be required to serve a probationary period.
- Subject to background/security investigation.
- Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process.
- Must pass pre-employment physical examination.
- Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).
- Participation in the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination program is a requirement for all Veterans Health Administration Health Care Personnel (HCP) - See "Additional Information" below for details.
- Valid Driver's License Required
Qualifications
Basic Requirements:
- Citizenship - You must be a citizen of the United States
- English Language Proficiency - You must be proficient in spoken and written English as required by 38 U.S.C. 7403(f)
- Education - You must possess a master's degree in Social Work from a school of social work fully accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE). Graduates of schools of social work that are in candidacy status do not meet this requirement until the school of social work is fully accredited. Note: A doctoral degree in Social Work may NOT be substituted for the master's degree in Social Work.
- License or Certification* - You must be licensed or certified by a state to independently practice social work at the master's degree level.
Grandfathering Provision. A Social Worker employed in VHA on the effective date of the qualification standard (9/10/2019) who did not meet all the basic requirements in this standard, but who met the qualifications applicable to the position at the time they were appointed, the following provisions apply:
- Employees may be reassigned, promoted up to and including the full performance (journey) level or changed to lower grade within the occupation but may not be promoted beyond the journeyman level or placed in supervisory or managerial positions.
- Employees in an occupation that requires a licensure/certification/ registration only at higher grade levels must meet the licensure/ certification/registration requirement before they can be promoted to those higher grade levels.
- Employees who are appointed on a temporary basis prior to the effective date of the qualification standard may not have their temporary appointment extended or be reappointed on a temporary or permanent basis until they fully meet the basic requirements of the standard.
- Employees who are converted to title 38 hybrid status under this provision and subsequently leave the occupation lose protected status and must meet the full VA qualification standard requirements in effect at the time of re-entry to the occupation.
- Employees initially grandfathered into this occupation who subsequently obtain additional education and/or licensure/certification/registration that meet all the basic requirements of this qualification standard must maintain the required credentials as a condition of employment in the occupation.
Senior Social Worker, GS-12 Grade Requirements
- Licensure Requirement: You must be licensed or certified by a state at the advanced practice level which included an advanced generalist or clinical examination, unless they are grandfathered by the state in which they are licensed to practice at the advanced practice level (except for licenses issued in California, which administers its own clinical examination for advanced practice) and must be able to provide supervision for licensure.
- Advanced practice levelsocial workers must be licensed or certified by a state at the advanced practice level which includes an advanced generalist or clinical examination, unless they are grandfathered by the state in which they are licensed to practice at the advanced practice level (except for licenses issued in California, which administers its own clinical examination for advanced practice) and they must be able to provide supervision for licensure. All states except California use a series of licensure exams administered by the ASWB. Information can be found at https://www.aswb.org/.
- Experience Requirement: You must possess at least two years of experience post advanced practice clinical licensure and should be in a specialized area of social work practice of which, one year must be equivalent to the GS-11 grade level. Examples of specialized experience include, but are not limited to: assessing and documenting identified behaviors or symptoms of abuse, neglect, exploitation and/or intimate partner violence; use of clinical social work skills; maintaining patient privacy and confidentiality per policies, handbooks or directives; acting as an advocate with appropriate community service providers and agencies when it serves the best interest of the patient and family members/caregiver; independently assessing the psychosocial functioning and needs of patients and their family members, identifying the patient's strengths, weaknesses, coping skills, and psychosocial acuity. Applicable experience must demonstrate possession of advanced practice skills and judgment.
- In addition to the experience above, you must demonstrate the following Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:
- Skill in a range of specialized interventions and treatment modalities used in specialty treatment programs or with special patient populations. This includes individual, group, and/or family counseling or psychotherapy and advanced level psychosocial and/or case management.
- Ability to incorporate complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment within approved clinical privileges or scope of practice.
- Knowledge in developing and implementing methods for measuring effectiveness of social work practice and services in the specialty area, utilizing outcome evaluations to improve treatment services and to design system changes.
- Ability to provide specialized consultation to colleagues and students on the psychosocial treatment of patients in the service delivery area, as well as role modeling effective social work practice skills.
- Ability to expand clinical knowledge in the social work profession, and to write policies, procedures, and/or practice guidelines pertaining to the service delivery area.
Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit
https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.
The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12.
Physical Requirements:
Individuals who are required to operate a government owned or leased vehicle to successfully carry out their assigned duties must be medically cleared prior to appointment.
Assessment must be made for any acute or chronic medical/physical condition or medication use which interferes with the ability operate the appropriate Government-owned or -leased vehicle safely and without undue risk to themselves or others. The following requirements must be met:
- distant vision 20/40 in one eye with or without correction,
- field of vision 70 degrees,
- ability to distinguish red, green and amber,
- whispered voice at five feet, or average hearing loss of not greater than 40 dbs. at 500, 1000 and 2,000 Hz
Education
IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education. Failure to provide transcripts may result in non-referral of your application if education cannot be verified.
Note: If your school has changed names, or is no longer in existence, you must provide this information in your application.
Note: If your school was accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) at the time of graduation but is no longer listed on the CSWE website, you must provide documentation of accreditation with your application packet. Verification of the degree can be made by going to http://www.cswe.org/Accreditation to verify that the social work degree meets the accreditation standards for a masters of social work.
Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html.
Duties Continued:
- A substantial portion of the workload directed by this position will be carried out at one or more locations that are physically removed from the main unit under conditions that can make day-to-day oversight difficult to administer.
- performs a wide range of services and provides technical assistance to State, local, private agencies, and universities. Technical assistance is provided to monitor activities and program reviews, and the development and analysis of information.
- uses sound judgment in the interpretation of trends and patterns; the application of guidelines; and the recommendation of program enhancements.
- performs program analysis, development, review, research, design, and contact work as possible with various agencies (such as public, DOD, and state).
- takes responsibility for improving professional skills, participating in planning and execution of specific staff development projects, attending seminars and institutes, and participating in training programs of other disciplines as identified by HCHV Program Manager or designee.
- willingly accepts additional and special assignments that are necessary to meet program goals or customer needs. The incumbent will participate in a rotation of on-call social workers, including modification of tour of duty to accommodate patient care needs on weekends.
- is responsible for completing the following duties/responsibilities as a HUD-VASH Senior Social Worker:
- independently provide consultation services to other staff regarding the psychosocial needs of Veterans and the impact of psychosocial problems on health care and adherence to treatment plan.
- evaluates self-practice through professional peer review, case conferences and other organizational means. Incumbent communicates effectively, both orally and in writing, with people from varied backgrounds.
- as appropriate, supervises the practice of social work students.
- performs accountability functions: 1) documents all contacts with patients/families in the medical record utilizing CPRS and ensures appropriate hand off when transferring of patient care; 2) completes statistical and other reports in accordance with WTVAHCS and respective professional discipline service policies; 3) maintains data and statistical compilation to comply with TJC, CARF, VA/VHA, and medical center policy and procedures. The incumbent is responsible for following local policy and procedures for the HUD-VASH Program plus the policy and documentation requirements as required for CARF and TJC accreditation. The incumbent is responsible for collecting and submitting HUD-VASH Program participant data as outlined by NEPEC evaluation procedures.
- verifies the Veteran's status, eligibility for VA medical care, and eligibility for program participation.
- is responsible for ensuring that homeless Veterans are considered as primary participants for program acceptance.
- is responsible for providing HUD-VASH case management, defined as the provision of services by VA clinical staff to homeless Veterans. This includes all activities to provide appropriate treatment and maintain Veterans in HUD approved stable housing.
- works with WTVAHCS multi-disciplinary teams and community agencies to develop more effective and efficient ways of delivering healthcare services to HUD- VASH Program Veterans.
- coordinates care including serving as an advocate on behalf of the Veteran to ensure comprehensive service delivery, linking and referring Veterans to the Community Based Outpatient Clinics, VA Medical Center, VA Regional Offices and/or community agencies.
- coordinates treatment and communicate with the care lines to facilitate continuity of care for Veterans. The incumbent will act as liaison between VA and community resources, to include marketing and public relation duties as needed.
- conducts psychosocial assessments to determine needs of Veterans and family members.
- is an active participant in the treatment planning process with other disciplines and will be responsible for ensuring that discharge plans are executed in a manner that is timely and appropriate.
- addresses Advance Directives and Organ Donation in accordance with the standards of their work area.
- acts as a consultant to other teams/staff members, role model effective social work practice skills, and develop innovations in practice interventions.
- provides consultation/education to Veterans and families on community resources, advance directives, wellness/prevention, and VA benefits.
Duties are continued in the additional information section of this announcement.
Benefits
A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.
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Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.
How You Will Be Evaluated
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE MAY NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Your application, resume, C.V., and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect consideration for employment.
Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.
The Department of Veterans Affairs performs pre-employment reference checks as an assessment method used in the hiring process to verify information provided by a candidate (e.g., on resume or during interview or hiring process); gain additional knowledge regarding a candidate's abilities; and assist a hiring manager with making a final selection for a position.
It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.
Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members.
How to Apply
All applicants are encouraged to apply online. To apply for this position, you must complete the full questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section below. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on 02/27/2025 to receive consideration. To preview the questionnaire click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12693829.
- To begin, click Apply Online to create a USAJOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USA JOBS resume and/or other supporting documents and complete the occupational questionnaire.
- Click Submit My Answers to submit your application package.
NOTE: It is your responsibility to ensure your responses and appropriate documentation is submitted prior to the closing date.
To verify your application is complete, log into your USA JOBS account,
https://my.usajobs.gov/Account/Login, select the Application Status link and then select the more information link for this position. The Details page will display the status of your application, the documentation received and processed, and any correspondence the agency has sent related to this application. Your uploaded documents may take several hours to clear the virus scan process. To return to an incomplete application, log into your USA JOBS account and click Update Application in the vacancy announcement. You must re-select your resume and/or other documents from your USA JOBS account or your application will be incomplete.
Next steps
Once your online application is submitted you will receive a confirmation notification by email. After we receive application packages (including all required documents) and the vacancy announcement closes, we will review applications to ensure qualification and eligibility requirements are met. After the review is complete, a referral certificate(s) is issued and applicants will be notified of their status by email. Referred applicants will be notified as such and may be contacted directly by the hiring office for an interview. All referred applicants receive a final notification once a selection decision has been made.
You may check the status of your application at any time by logging into your USA Jobs account and clicking on Applications. Information regarding your application status can be found in the USAJobs Help Center.
NOTE: Participation in the seasonal influenza program is a condition of employment and a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP). It is a requirement that all HCP to receive annual seasonal influenza vaccination or obtain an exemption for medical or religious reasons. Wearing a face mask is required when an exemption to the influenza vaccination has been granted. HCP in violation of this directive may face disciplinary action up to and including removal from federal service. HCP are individuals who, during the influenza season, work in VHA locations or who come into contact with VA patients or other HCP as part of their duties. VHA locations include, but are not limited to, VA hospitals and associated clinics, community living centers (CLCs), community-based outpatient clinics (CBOCs), domiciliary units, Vet centers and VA-leased medical facilities. HCP include all VA licensed and unlicensed, clinical and administrative, remote and onsite, paid and without compensation, full- and part-time employees, intermittent employees, fee basis employees, VA contractors, researchers, volunteers and health professions trainees (HPTs) who are expected to perform any or all of their work at these facilities. HPTs may be paid or unpaid and include residents, interns, fellows and students. HCP also includes VHA personnel providing home-based care to Veterans and drivers and other personnel whose duties put them in contact with patients outside VA medical facilities.